Falling Trees
by SecretMist
Summary: Its a Warrior Story about 1 cat from each clan. Muskratkit from Thunderclan, Birchkit from Shadowclan, and Leafwhisker and Pebblepaw from Riverclan.
1. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1 Into The World Of Warriors (Thunderclan)**

A small brown calico tom-kit lay in the middle of the small dark den filled with herbs. He could hear, but he couldnt see, and the words that he could hear from the hushed voices of his mother and the clan's Medicine cat did not sound good. "... might not make it" "... why him?" "... will try as hard as I can" the kit could only get the end of each sentence. _Am I going to die? _thought the young tom. He just realized the pain of hunger in his belly, along with a great surge of weakness and pain throughout his small body. A shudder passed, and a gasp came from the mother of the dying kit. _Starclan no, I dont want to die! Please help me, I want to be able to play with my littermates and eat fresh kill and become a warrior! _He heardhis mother call out his name - Muskratkit. Muskrakit felt something touch him, and then something was forced down his throat. _Oh how I would love to be able to see right now! _The kit wished. Whatever he had been forced to eat, I tasted rather sweet, yet bitter. Before Muskratkit got a chance to fully swallow the herbs, he was picked up and brought over to something warm. _My mother! I will finally be warm and get something to eat! _As he suckled, the weakness and pain suddenly faded, and somehow felt the gaze of the medicine cat on him, her staring in amazment. If must have been a gift from Starclan that those herbs worked so fast, and let Muskratkit live on. _Thank-you Starclan! I will become the best warrior I can be, just for you! _The young kit promised.

"Tag! Your it!" shouted Mistykit. The 6 kits were playing tag while their mother went to get some fresh air. Muskratkit was it, like usual. His littermates thought since he was smaller, he couldnt run as fast. But once again, he proved them all wrong. As quick as lightning, he flashed out and tagged Secretkit, the fastest and sneakiest kit in the bunch, who was hiding in a small crack. As soon as he tagged his sister, Muskratkit streaked away from her before Secretkit decided to do a tag back. He was running like the wind, faster than he had ever ran before. But when he ran into the shadows, hoping to hide like his sister did, he tripped over Smokekit, one of his brothers. When he tripped, he did a flip in the air and hit the wall of the Nursery with his back, being upside down, and slipped down to the ground, head first. When the shock went away a bit, he when right side up, and lay on a small bit of moss. After a couple seconds, he realized everyone was laughing at him. "You should have seen your face!" "Smokekit was right there, didnt you see him? Hahaha!" "Wow, for a second there, I though you were a big fluffy hairball!" Muskratkit heard all the insults being flung at him._ If it were one of you that this happened to, would you all still be laughing? I think not! _Muskratkit though painfully. Just then, Dapplefur came in, but all Muskratkit could hear was the faint sound of muffled laughter, which stopped as soon as some muffled words came out of Dapplefur. That was the last sound he heard before he blacked out.

This place seemed oddly familiar to Muskratkit when he woke up. A dim den, filled with the scent of herbs, and words that he couldnt get. Then it hit him. _I almost died here... It is exactly the same as before, only this time I can see and I can hear a bit better _thought Muskratkit. As he was trying to think what had exactly happened to him, he saw a black tom pad in. "Why your awake! Thank Starclan! I'm Shadowpelt. You back and head must be awfully sore... I wonder how you managed to hit that wall so hard " the Medicine cat mewed. Muskratkit tried to speak, but no words got out of his mouth. "You take it easy now, okay? I fed you some herbs earlier so you wont hurt as much when you woke up. You are going to stay here for a few days, just to make sure you aren't any more hurt that you look. Oh, I better let your mother in to see you, I can here her starting to pace." And with that, Shadowpelt disappeared behind the ferns at the entrance of the den, in almost instantly Dapplefur shot in. "Oh my kit, my kit, are you alright!" Dapplefur mewed anxiously, while licking Muskratkit affectionately. "Yes, im ok... I just ache all over! Shadowpelt just told me that im fine, I just need to stay here for a few days and to take it easy" Muskratkit replied. Just then, Secretkit padded in cautiously. "I-is he alright mama?" she asked. When Muskratkit heard Secretkit's voice he hid behind his mother before his sister could see him. "Of course he is, thank Starclan! Now Secretkit, I need to go see someone and eat something, alright? Please look after him while im gone." and at that, Dapplefur disappeared out the entrance. Muskratkit wanted to scream "No! Stay here mama, dont leave me here with Secrekit! She will make fun of me, or bring the others to do it!" but he didnt dare say such a thing outloud. "Hi Muskratkit, are you feeling better?" his sister asked sympathetically. Muskratkit was shocked. _But they are never nice to me! How come Secretkit is being nice to me right now? _He wondered. Secretkit must have known what the expression on his face meant, for she looked hurt. "Muskratkit, im not like the others. That's why I came here. They are still in the nursery laughing and making jokes and I just had to get away from it. I think they are treating you unfairly. Just because mama is protective over you, doesnt mean you are the one to get mad at!" Muskratkit suddenly realized that she was right. She never laughed at him, she never came near the others when they were making fun of him. He suddenly couldnt speak again, and a wave of tiredness swept over him. It seemed Secretkit understood him. She always had a mysterious way of almost reading cats minds, but who knows. "Ok well Im going to go now, bye Muskratkit! Have a nice sleep." she said and she padded out of the Medicine cat's den. Muskratkit fell asleep instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- A Secret Power, Or Someone's Ambition (Shadowclan)**

"Birchkit, from this moment on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Birchpaw. Your mentor shall be Ashcloud" rang Shadestar's words throughout the sunset-light camp. Birchpaw padded up to his mentor and touched noses._ Im finally an apprentice!_ He thought excitedly. _And I also finally get to train with Skypaw! _He looked around the clearing, everyone was shouting his new name. "Birchpaw! Birchpaw" It felt nice to hear his name, and he puffed out his chest proudly. "Your not a Warrior yet silly, save the pride for later!" came a voice from behind him. "Well I er... I was just practicing Skypaw!" "Yea, right" Skypaw meowed in amusement. "Now follow me, I will show you the apprentices den." Birchpaw nodded and followed Skypaw to his new den. When he got inside, amazement filled him. Its was so tall, almost like a mini-cave! He saw Skypaw look up at the tall roof. "Oh yea, its cool, isnt it? Sometimes if it is dark enough, you can see sparkles of light from up there, its so cool!" she told him as she curled up in her bed of moss. He saw that there was an empty bed beside her, and thought it must be his. He curled up in it and laid there, his eyes open, looking around the den once more. "Skypaw, who is your mentor?" he asked her. "Cometsky, why?" she asked. "Oh, just wondering" he replied. "OK well good night. Maybe we can train together tomorrow." Birchpaw added. "Mhmm, sure." she told him, and they both drifted off into dreamless sleep.

"Boy, how can you sleep so long! Its nearly sunhigh!" exclaimed Skypaw. Both of their mentors were already waiting on them to go and train. "wha..." said Birchpaw sleepily. He looked around the den, wondering what strange place he was in. Then he remembered he was an Apprentice now, and this was the Apprentice's den. "Well? Come on! Our mentors are waiting!" Skypaw mewed. Before Birchpaw had a chance to reply, someone called Skypaw and she padded out of the den. Stretching, trying to wake himself up, he decided to go see his mother before they went. If the others saw him, they would make him leave that until later, so he had to creep along the very sides of the clearing, hoping his pelt will blend in some what. Luckily the others were facing the other direction, but he did see them cast glances at the Apprentice's den._ I must have just made it, they must be getting a bit upset now... _Birchpaw thought. But when he got to the Nursery, nobody was in there. _She must have gone back to the Warrior's den. _Sighing, he decided it was best to leave that for now, just incase he would get into twice as much trouble for going into there. Hoping that they wouldnt notice him, he raced back to the Apprentices den. Birchpaw stuck his head out and sighed in relief. They never saw him. "Hey look, there he is!" said Skypaw. Birchpaw yawned and padded towards them. "Good mourning Birchpaw, or should I say good afternoon" joked Ashcloud. "Sorry Im late, Im not used to getting up early like that" appologized Birchpaw. "Well next time wake up faster or I will put mouse bile all over your face!" huffed Skypaw. Luckily the two mentors never heard Skypaw's remark, since they were talking and already going through the Spine Tunnel. Birchpaw had only been out of the camp once, but this time he wouldn't get into trouble for it. He started shaking excitedly as he walked out of the camp, with Skypaw at his side.

_Finally we can get on with some training!_ Birchpaw thought recklessly. As soon as Ashcloud told him she was going to take him around Shadowclan territory, his heart sank. After seeing all the boring sights, he almost started to wish he wasn't an Apprentice yet. Now the two were heading for the Moss Clearing for some training with Skypaw and Cometsky. As the Moss Clearing finally came in sight. Birchpaw raced ahead. As soon as he got into the clearing, he suddenly came to a stop and stared around in amazment. Everything had moss on it. The bottoms of the big pine and birch trees, the ground, everything was green, soft, and mossy. "Welcome, im glad you could finally come" mewed Cometsky. Birchpaw nodded his head. "Okay, enough sitting around, lets train!" Skypaw mewed impatiently. So with that they did. All the training was fun, and tiring, but something didn't feel right, like something was there that shouldn't have been. Constantly Birchpaw was looking around the clearing, trying to figure out what was making him feel this way. "Birchpaw, you look as if something is going to come out and kill you for its prey or something" His mentor said in a concerned and joking way. "Oh, um, its nothing, I just still can't believe this place, and im excited to go exploring sometime" he lied. Luckily his attempt was good enough for Ashcloud to give a slight nod and continue teaching the defending moves the two mentors were teaching their Apprentices.

After training, Ashcloud took Birchpaw on a small hunting patrol, but it was mostly just exploring for him. The whole thing was fun, but something really made his fur stick up. Something was following him, watching his every move, but really, what could be following him when it was nearly sunset, and when there was Warriors all over Shadowclan territory? It wasn't just that feeling that overwhelmed him, he also had a feeling something bad was going to happen, but what? So many of these similar questions were going around in Birchpaw's head, he almost never saw the urgent flick of Ashcloud's tail, signaling to stop and crouch down. So badly did he want to ask what was going on, but he knew better to keep silent, for even a quiet whisper might give the two away to something very dangerous. So Birchpaw stayed quiet, and sure enough, he found out what had made Ashcloud so urgent and alert. There in front of them were the bodies of two kits, Snowkit and Cloudkit, dead, in a circle of cat and fox pawprints.


End file.
